Not Without Reason
by MayaHJ7
Summary: When Erik killed the spiders for Christine, she was terrified of them and Erik yelled at her for not having any compassion. Maybe Erik didn't know something about Christine though. Please read and review!


Disclaimer: For all you Susan Kay readers, this came to me while I was reading a scene later on in the book between Christine and Erik. I did change the ending around a bit though. A strange venture for me though.... it's not a romance! I don't own either of them, all though I am an " to 'EACH' there own" member. (The original Erik/Christine group) I've used Leroux's idea of Christine and her father living in a barn though.  
  
Hugs and peaches,  
  
Maya:)  
  
  
  
"Kill it yourself, if you can find it!"  
  
Erik grabbed the doorknob and slammed the door fiercely. Christine jumped at the loud noise and then started to look around the room frantically. The one spider was gone, but Erik had said that it's mate must be here somewhere as well. When she asked him to kill the one, you would have thought that she had asked him to take a knife and cut out his heart. She knew in her heart that he had a horrible temper, but it was a spider. Nothing too exciting.  
  
Christine walked over to her dressing table cautiously, still looking all around herself as she did so. Picking up her shawl, she walked over to the dead body of the spider and tossed the silk wrap on it. Walking over to her bed gingerly, she lifted up each sheet individually and searched under the bed after that. Not finding the other one, she climbed into the canopied bed and slipped under the covers. She didn't blow the candle out for the fear of that one spider.  
  
She knew that Erik would probably still be mad at her the next day, but there was something he didn't know. He thought her fear of spiders was based on the pure fact that they were ugly and insignificant insects. That was what he thought, but that didn't make it the truth.  
  
  
* * * * * * * * 11 years ago * * * * * * * * * * *   
  
  
Christine woke up, turning slightly in the uncomfortable hay bed and looked around her. She often wondered why her father wouldn't accept money whenever they played there music in public. No matter what the situation, he always managed to find shelter in a local barn. She was quite content as long as her father was with her, the comfort of the situation seemed indifferent. That was until one woke up in the middle of the night being poked in the back by the sharp hard ends of straw.   
  
She rolled over and looked up at the ceiling of the barn loft. There was an owl looking down on the sleeping couple with avid interest and few other animals half hidden in the shadow. Christine felt a pain in her head and a throbbing in her arm. Putting an arm over her stomach and one to her side, she looked around the dark barn nervously and felt herself getting nauseated. Pulling her pain filled arm closer to her, she looked down and froze in terror. On her arm was a large black spider with a blood red stomach, biting into her arm. She shot up, let out a loud whimper, flung it off of her and tried desperately to wake her father up.   
  
"Papa! Papa, please!" she shouted, shaking him violently with her left arm, ignoring the ever growing pain in her right one, and the feeling of her lungs constricting. Stephen rolled over, and asked,"Is something wrong, Christine?"  
  
Relief, terror and illness took over and she looked at him and said,"Papa, a spider bit me," and fainted.   
  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *   
  
For the next two weeks, Christine slipped in and out of a deep sleep. Stephen had gathered up every last scrap of money he could to pay for the medical expenses. Night and day, he sat by her side, watching as she would writhe and moan in pain. He would some her hair or grab her hand, whispering words of encouragement. Day after day the doctors would come in and say that there was really no hope in trying to hold on, but he did anyway. On her fourth week, she had lost so much weight from lack of food and was loosing more and more energy, but one day her eyes opened and she woke up with a groan. Stephen, who was suffering from exhaust, woke up from his chair and looked over at her.  
  
"Daddy?"  
  
Standing up quickly, he rushed over to her side. "Oh, thank God. I thought..." His voice was thick with emotion and he reached down and hugged her, relieved just to be able to hear her voice again and hold her.  
  
"Daddy, I don't feel so good," she muttered, grabbing her stomach.  
  
Patting her cheeks, he smiled, despite that he was about to cry and said,"I know, little one. I know, but you'll be all right. It will all be all right."  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Christine sat in the room and in the ill light, lifted up the sleeve of her dressing gown and looked at the small patch of discolored flesh. Her arm shad swelled terribly after she had been bitten and there had been a large red bit mark from where the spider had been. Even today, she still carried a small scar. Lifting it up in the way of the light, she looked at the small mark and felt her fear rising again.  
  
Leaning back in her bed, she looked around the room and let out a gasp of fear. There was another one in her, only larger then the one that had bitten her. Sitting up, she leaned against the head board and pulled her knees up to her chest. Glancing around the room she looked over at her dressing table and saw a large shadow moving along the top of the chair. The spider's shadow moved around the chair carelessly and made it's way down the leg of the chair after a while. For a fleeting moment of horror, Christine thought it was going to walk over to her bed and bite her, but she was soon relieved when she saw the spider walking along the dressing table. As long as she knew where the spider was, there was no chance of her sleeping at all tonight. She regarded the spider quietly and stared at it nervously as it examined the items on the table.  
  
After six hours, it was still quite content to walking around there. Christine still sat watching ever move the insect made and she still shook with terror. After a while, there came a steady knock on the door.  
  
"Christine?"  
  
She didn't answer back. She couldn't. If he came in here and found her staring at the spider the way she was, he would only get mad.   
  
"Christine, are you all right?"  
  
He was concerned because before he fell asleep himself, he saw the glow of the candle from the cracks of the door and woke to find the room still illuminated. He saw the frightened look in her eyes last night, but... it was only a spider! It had no intentions of hurting her in the least, but she was still scared. He felt a twinge of guilt for having left her in the room that long with something she feared so much. Opening the door slowly, he peeked in and saw Christine sitting on the bed, her knees pulled up to her chest and her chin resting on them. She seemed to be in some sort of shock and then he soon saw what caught her attention so. The spider sat harmlessly on the table, minding his own business, but Christine looked at it like it was Death himself.   
  
Sighing, he walked over to the spider, picked it up and walked into the adjoining room. He walked to the torture chamber door, opened it and let the spider go free there. Closing the door quietly, he walked back to Christine's room to make sure she wa all right.  
  
"Christine?"  
  
He looked into the room again and saw that she hadn't changed her position or her fixed gaze. She made no sign that she heard him or that she even knew he was in the same room as her. Walking through the open door, he left it ajar and walked closer to her with faltering steps.   
  
"What's the matter? Is it the spider? If it is, you needn't worry. I've taken care of it."  
  
Christine looked up at him slowly and shook her head. "You don't understand."   
  
Looking at her carefully, he asked,"What don't I understand?"  
  
She shook her head again, only a little bit harder and repeated, "You don't understand. You wouldn't understand even if I told you." Rolling over, she answered,"I didn't sleep well last night, so I beg your pardon. I should like it very dearly to try to know." Before he could reply, she wrapped the sheets around herself and shut herself off to everything. After a few minutes, she was asleep and Erik quitted the room.  
  
What did she mean by he wouldn't understand?  
  
  
Like it? Hate it? Too short? Too long? Please read and review!  
  
Hugs and peaches,  
  
Maya:) 


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